DANA HILLS INVITATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET : Niednagel and Taylor Run Off With Titles

Dan Niednagel and Shelley Taylor ran the fastest times of the day Saturday at the Dana Hills Invitational, but while Niednagel, a Dana Hills junior, whooped and hollered after the race in giddy self-congratulation, Taylor, an Edison sophomore, was somewhat glum, having been outrun by her expectations.

“I wanted to break 16 (minutes),” said Taylor, whose time of 17 minutes 3 seconds--more than a minute faster than her closest competitor--broke the sophomore girls’ course record by nine seconds.

The previous record-holder? Former Rancho Buena Vista star Kira Jorgensen, the two-time national cross-country champion now at UCLA. Jorgensen set the overall girls’ record at Dana Hills as a senior last year in 16:36.

In 1988, Taylor entered her freshman year without any racing experience but, somewhat incredibly, she finished sixth at the state cross-country championships and was named The Times’ female runner of the year.

This year, Taylor will no longer have the advantage of a being an unknown. In fact, Doug Speck of Track & Field News considers her the state’s best talent.

Saturday, Taylor led the three-mile race from the start, pulling away from the pack with ease in the first quarter-mile. Her smooth, efficient stride helped her to a 30-second lead by the mile mark, and as she passed Edison Coach Stan Stauble, Taylor flashed a thumbs-up sign.

From there, Taylor had only the clock to race. (The Dana Hills course, which because of its slight drop in elevation from start to finish makes it faster than most, is a favorite among time-conscious cross-country runners.)

“What was my time? Did you get my time?” asked Taylor as she walked through the finishing chute. Once she learned she had run 17:03, the fastest time of the day, Taylor was obviously disappointed.

Asked if breaking Jorgensen’s record didn’t make it any better, Taylor said, “Yes, but it takes a lot to make me feel confident.”

For Niednagel, running the fastest time of the day--14:45--was more than satisfying, especially because he had to outrun a very tough Eddie Salinas of Saddleback in the process.

Running in the large schools’ junior race, Niednagel and Salinas ran shoulder to shoulder, surge to surge, through three miles. It was only in the race’s final 200 yards, where a slight downhill brought the runners down onto the track for the finish, that Niednagel took the lead for good.

With a strong kick, and a few nervous looks back to check Salinas’ position, Niednagel sprinted in, winning by five seconds.

“The guy was so close, so close, I had to look back,” Niednagel said in rapid-fire syllables. “I’ve raced this guy a million times. He’s so fast. I’d make a surge, then he’d make a surge. The whole race was a surge!

“And all his friends were talking to him in Spanish. But all I knew was that he was cansado (tired).”

As he crossed the finish line, Niednagel was told that his time was 14:44, which would have tied the school record set two years ago by former Dana Hills star Mike Tansley. (The overall course record is 14:16.)

“Oh man! Oh man!” shouted Niednagel, who upon finishing was instantly surrounded by his younger Dana Hills teammates, giving him a hero’s welcome with pats on the back, high fives, hoots and hollers. Some even took snapshots.

When he learned his official time was actually 14:45, Niednagel was momentarily disappointed, but the moment was too enjoyable to waste.

“Yeah, I didn’t think I could run that fast,” said Niednagel, who improved his personal best on the course by 24 seconds. “I’m really, really happy.”

You might say the same for Tansley, who was closely watching his stopwatch while Niednagel sprinted toward Tansley’s school record. “Yeah,” said Tansley. “I was shaking. I’m kind of relieved. But I would’ve been happy for him because he (was) my teammate.”

Cross-Country Notes

In team competition, Corona del Mar won the boys’ senior and junior races in the medium-schools division. Woodbridge won the medium schools’ junior/senior girls’ race with 66 points, defeating Tustin (117) and Newport Harbor (124). Other county teams to win their divisions were: El Toro in the large schools’ junior boys and Laguna Beach in the small schools senior boys. . . . Along with Shelley Taylor, county girls who ran faster than 18 minutes were Villa Park’s Susannah Thrasher (17:32), University’s Tanja Brix (17:44), Newport Harbor’s Kim Robinson (17:45), Ocean View freshman Christy Engesser (17:48), Irvine freshman Kelly Roda (17:52) and Huntington Beach’s Natalie Adam (17:53).